Help recruit a candidate for Congress

Thank you for your interest, but voting in this survey is now closed. We'll email all MoveOn members in the district before endorsing a candidate or taking other action in this race.

We want to ensure that each congressional district has a strong candidate who will stand up for our values. This informal survey of MoveOn members in your congressional district asks whether we should encourage an existing candidate, urge a new candidate to enter the race, or take no action. This is not an endorsement—we'll decide later which candidates for Congress to endorse. The public rarely has an opportunity to affect who is on the ballot, but today you can send a message about who you think would make the best candidate for the Democratic nomination.

Each member's response will only be counted once. Some member comments, along with the member's name, city, and state, will be conveyed to potential candidates, or used in an e-mail message or in the media.

Your Contact Information

*Your Name (*=Required)

*E-mail

Your Street Address

City

State or Province

*ZIP or Postal Code

Phone

Potential Candidates

These profiles were assembled from publicly available sources. The poll features the candidates who received the most nominations from
district MoveOn members in a previous survey, and two candidates who have already entered the race. Names are listed in order of the number of MoveOn member nominations received. Paul Hackett received the most member nominations, but he is already running for a U.S. Senate seat, so he is not included in the poll.

For each candidate, tell us how enthusiastic you are on a scale from 1-10, where 10 is very enthusiastic and 1 is not enthusiastic at all. You can also express a preference not to encourage anyone, at bottom.

Pref:
1-10

David Pepper, 34, is an attorney in the Cincinnati office of the law firm of Squire Sanders & Dempsey. Pepper was elected to Cincinnati City Council in his first political race in 2001. He finished first out of 26 candidates, a feat not achieved by a non-incumbent since the 1960s.1 On the Council, where he served two terms, he fought for a living wage and supported steps to rid Cincinnati of drug dealing and violence.2 In 2005, Pepper ran for Mayor of Cincinnati, losing a close race to another Democrat, Mark Mallory 52% to 48%. Pepper was endorsed by The Cincinnati Enquirer, The Cincinnati Post, the Fraternal Order of Police, the Cincinnati Firefighters Union, the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.3 His platform included comprehensive plans for fighting crime, job creation, government reform, and education reform.4 Pepper earned his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1999. After graduation, he clerked for Judge Nathaniel Jones on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Your message to David Pepper:

If Pepper ran, would you pledge to: Volunteer
Donate money

Todd Portune is an attorney with the Cincinnati law firm of Cook, Portune & Logothetis and a Hamilton County Commissioner. In 2000, Portune became the first Democrat in 36 years to win a seat on the Commission.1 He was endorsed by the firefighters, teachers, and several other unions, as well as the Sierra Club and the Women’s Political Caucus.2 His first priority was to open up county government, ending the abuse of closed door sessions.3 He was re-elected in 2004. He is seen as someone who can cross political boundaries, but he has sometimes been at odds with the Ohio Democratic Party, saying “ Ohio’s Democratic Party has lost touch with a majority of Ohio’s voters and as a consequence (they) have lost all but one statewide office.”4 In 1993, Portune was appointed to Cincinnati City Council and was then elected to four more terms. As a Council member, Portune was instrumental in creating the nationally recognized River Quality Index to advise the public of bacterial levels in the Ohio River. He also initiated the city’s first anti-gang unit.5

Your message to Todd Portune:

If Portune ran, would you pledge to: Volunteer
Donate money

Thor Jacobs is already running for the Democratic nomination in the 2nd District. He is a local football hero, a businessman, and the son of a former Cincinnati school superintendent. Thor supports a woman’s right to choose, the separation of church and state, universal health care coverage, national debt reduction, energy and education reform. He wants to see a state timetable for total withdrawal from Iraq, possibly by the end of 2006. He supports legal gun ownership.1 He decided to run against Rep. Schmidt because she is part of a culture of "corruption" and "incompetence" that the Bush administration has created in Washington.2 Jacobs holds a bachelor's degree from Ohio State, an MBA from the University of Cincinnati, and a master's in International Relations from the American University of Beirut. He spent the bulk of his professional career in sales and marketing and now works with his brother at their family-owned residential remodeling company. He has traveled, worked or lived in 25 different countries including Iraq.

Your message to Thor Jacobs:

To help Jacobs' campaign, would you pledge to: Volunteer
Donate money

Dr. Victoria Wells Wulsin has been a public health physician for 25 years. She finished a distant second (56.9% to 27.2%) to Paul Hackett for the Democratic nomination for Ohio’s 2nd District in last June’s special primary. Wulsin was a first time candidate for office. Wulsin campaigned to provide every citizen with health coverage and to protect Social Security and the environment. She is strongly pro-choice and a gay rights advocate. Wulsin said the Iraq War "has not been worth the cost of American service personnel or the dollars we have spent," and that America needed "fair trade" in the CAFTA agreement.1 She states that “as the third Democratic physician in the House of Representatives I will provide much-needed perspective on issues such as stem-cell research, quality of life, and the right to privacy.”2 She was endorsed by the chairman of the International Planned Parenthood Council. She received her B.A., Masters in Public Health and PhD in Public Health from Harvard and her medical degree from Case Western Reserve. In 2003, Wulsin founded a non-profit organization to fight AIDS in Africa.3

Your message to Dr. Wulsin:

If Wulsin ran, would you pledge to: Volunteer
Donate money

Jim Parker, 37, has entered the race as a Democrat. He has worked in healthcare administration for the last 15 years. In last year’s special election for Ohio’s 2nd District, Parker came in 4th in the Democratic primary, receiving 4.8% of the vote.1 He advocates expanding Medicare to 55-year-olds and health care coverage for all children.2 He is opposed to privatizing Social Security. Parker plans to fight for a middle class tax cut, to expand the economy of Southern Ohio, and to end the war in Iraq.3 Parker was the Assistant Administrator of 2 hospitals for nearly 10 years. He also worked for the Alzheimer's Association in Pittsburgh, and Appalachian Regional Healthcare. Parker received a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1989 and both a Master of Health Administration and a Master of Business Administration in 1991.4

Your message to Jim Parker:

To help Parker's campaign, would you pledge to: Volunteer
Donate money

Jeff Sinnard, a 43-year-old civil engineer who lives in Anderson Township, has also entered the race. In last year’s special election for Ohio’s 2nd District, Sinnard came in 4th in the Democratic primary with only 2 percent of the vote.1 Sinnard opposes the Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade, the use of public money to fund abortions and embryonic stem cell research.2 On the environment, he states that “God has blessed us with our home here on Earth. I will support environmental policies that protect the life and health of all peoples and that reflect stewardship for our planet.” He supports gun control and believes that the war in Iraq was a mistake, but that we are now “morally obliged to complete this dangerous course,” albeit as quickly as possible.3 He worked as a transportation engineer for nearly 20 years, but two years ago put his career on the back burner to stay at home with his son.4

Your message to Jeff Sinnard:

To help Sinnard's campaign, would you pledge to: Volunteer
Donate money

Don't encourage any candidates in this district. If you choose this option, enter a numerical rank as though it were a candidate.

Privacy Policy

This website, http://political.moveon.org is operated by MoveOn.org Political Action. We work hard to protect your privacy. We’re members too, and we treat your privacy as we do our own. We do not share the information you’ve given us with unaffiliated groups without your explicit permission.

Under circumstances where we determine that members may be misusing our systems for malicious purposes (for example, using the numbers we provide to make harassing phone calls), such activities may be reported to law enforcement agencies. In such cases, MoveOn may release personally identifiable information, including name and address, to those agencies.

Paid for by MoveOn.org Political Action, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

MoveOn.org Civic Action is a 501(c)(4) organization which primarily focuses on nonpartisan education and advocacy on important national issues. MoveOn.org Political Action is a federal political committee which primarily helps members elect candidates who reflect our values through a variety of activities aimed at influencing the outcome of the next election. MoveOn.org Political Action and MoveOn.org Civic Action are separate organizations.